Marty is a sweet boy that has been in foster while he recovering from a rear leg fracture. He has now been neutered and had his splint removed. He is ready to find his forever home and his foster family has written this bio:

Someone is going to love this boy. He loves being with HIS people. In the beginning, he was very hand shy with strangers, and still can be. He does better when a treat is in the stranger's hand, and if the stranger looks away while offering their hand or if they ignore him altogether. When new people come into the home, he barks protectively. He can be loud and a bit startling, and could use specific training regarding this.

Meeting other dogs: He puts his fur up behind his neck and on his back when he encounters another dog on leash. We give treats when he doesn't bark at the other dog, and he seems to be getting the picture. We haven't actually introduced him to other dogs off leash yet, so I don't know how he'll do.

Cat: He is curious about our cat, but doesn't perseverate. The cat avoids him.

Anxiety: He does get anxious when he can see us walk away from him (for example, if he is in the house and I'm in the front or side yard) and he will bark loudly with some whining. Same in the car. He does great in the car driving with me (without a crate, in a Prius), but if I have to leave him in the car momentarily and do an errand like run into the bank or post office, he gets extremely anxious and barks, panting. I don't make stops with him in the car unless he is in the van in the crate. He does better in that situation, because can't see me go, and it's kind of den-like.

He is crate trained. He sleeps in the crate at night, and is in the crate during the workday maybe two or three times/week when I'm at work at the hospital and my husband has him at Cuesta. He is let out to get exercise/walk and potty about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours during those work days. He does great in the crate overnight. We also put him in the crate to calm him down if he's going puppy crazy (with treats so he doesn't feel punished). He settles right down.

He is potty trained.

We've been allowing him on the couch because we love a couch cuddle, but he also knows "place" and is comfy in his dog bed. (I feel a little guilty about this, but we let him up on the bed when we read at night and drink coffee in the morning....so if the new owner doesn't want that, they'll have to train that out of him...) and he is such a soft cuddler who loves to be petted. He is a big boy and will jump in your lap and curl up for snuggles if you are down on the floor with him. So sweet.

Bad habits: He does like to chew. He has lots of chew toys that he likes but he also tends to find new things that we don't want him to have (he loves shoes, slippers, flip flops). That's typical of all puppies of course...but he is persistent! :) The barking at visitors can be seen as a bad habit or a great feature, depending on your preference. He LOVES his people and follows us around room to room. Again, that might be good or bad depending on what you want. But it does feel a little like it goes hand in hand with the separation anxiety. I think I've seen improvement on this over the past week: He has a favorite toy and takes it to his "place" to chew on it to entertain himself when we are not giving him attention.

Leash: He does great. He already knows how to do loose leash walking.

For more information about this animal, call:
San Luis Obispo County Animal Services at (805) 781-4400